Stripe order in quasicrystals

TL;DR

This paper investigates how magnetic stripe order can emerge in quasiperiodic systems, specifically in the Ammann--Beenker quasicrystal, revealing unique symmetry-breaking mechanisms influenced by geometric frustration and local environments.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed phase diagram of the $J_1$-$J_2$ Ising model on a 2D quasicrystal, showing stable stripe phases despite lack of periodicity.

Findings

Stripe order appears below a critical temperature.

Stripe domains are pinned at specific quasiperiodic sites.

Long-range order is softened by competing domains.

Abstract

We explore the emergence of magnetic order in geometrically frustrated quasiperiodic systems, focusing on the interplay between local tile symmetry and frustration-induced constraints. In particular, we study the $J_1$-$J_2$ Ising model on the two-dimensional Ammann--Beenker quasicrystal. Through large-scale Monte Carlo simulations and general arguments, we map the phase diagram of the model. For small $J_2$, a N\'eel phase appears, whereas a stripe phase is stable for dominant antiferromagnetic $J_2$, despite the system's lack of periodicity. Although long-range stripe order emerges below a critical temperature, unlike in random systems, it is softened by the nucleation of competing stripe domains pinned at specific quasiperiodic sites. This behavior reveals a unique mechanism of symmetry breaking in quasiperiodic lattices, where geometric frustration and local environment effects compete to determine the magnetic ground state. Our results show how long-range order adapts to non-periodic structures, with implications for understanding nematic phases and other broken-symmetry states in quasicrystals.